☆ Violinist, Educator, & Social Media Manager ☆ Artistic Director of Aster String Quartet
Hello, my name is Tavifa and I’m sharing my life through video diaries. You’ll mostly see lifestyle vlogs taken at coffee shops, bookstores, concert halls, and at home. I hope these videos will bring you joy.
📚🎶 The book is called FIRST DUET ALBUM FOR TWO VIOLINS compiled, arranged, and edited by Harvey S. Whistler and Herman A. Hummel. It is one of my favorite collection of duets for beginners. There are so many options in so many different keys! Can’t wait to review some other books by them. Let me know if you already use this music book. If you use some other books instead, please share with me which ones you love! I’ll definitely enjoy checking it out 📝. #violin #teaching #violinteaching #musiceducation #musiceducationmatters #teachingviolin #teachingtips #teachingresources #musicbooks #classicalmusic
I think that is my favorite part of the whole video, made me feel so nostalgic. It is also all the places that are right next to me, but I seem to be always so busy to actually appreciate the beauty of it 🥹. I’m happy you enjoyed it too.
Dear Tavifa, do you remember me ? ☺️ I'm the student who asked you some questions about structuring life with both violin and school! I saw this video the day you uploaded it, but I didn't quite find time to write the intended long comment for wishing you the best! I'm very sorry😔 I think your future as a musician will be amazing and your commitment is truly inspiring. What I like about you is that you seem like a "normal person", just like me (even though you are at least 8 years older or so) which makes your life seem mor "real" to me. After your last kind answers to my questions I kind of see you as a friend, which I want to thank you for. I haven't yet watched your new videos but I will definitely do soon 🙂.
Actually I wanted to give you a quick update about my life. I know you are probably very busy, so please don't feel forced to read or comment or anything if you are too busy ;)). For me, the summer vacations end tomorrow, so monday is my first school day as high school student, how exciting (I go to school in Germany)! What brings me the most struggles is unfortunately still the same problem as before... the violin.... i love this instrument and i love music, i love to play it and communicate with friends who also do, but i blame it for bringing me in this ituation of not knowing how to decide. You told me, you had friends who were able to keep up with great marks in high school while being great at the violin at the same time. This and also seeing famous and successful young people like Chloe Chua or even some of other careers (like the olympic athlete chen yuxi) who do their "skill", so playing the violin or sports, on the highest possible level, so they are famous all over the world, but at the same time go to university and do exams, just like me, a "normal person". Those things made me thought it would definitely be possible to just keep going at doing both, but eventually I noticed that this current situation didn't bring me joy or fulfillment but rather the feeling of not being able to concentrate on what I'm doing. E.g. when I practice I always feel like I should be studying math and when I'm doing school work I'm wondering if I can keep going until it's bed time or should stop to practice. I still practice everyday but it doesn't feel as efficient as it could be, because I am a person that works best when having a specified goal or aim, I'm working for. Over the whole summer holidays I procrastinated on figuring out my real goal, while feeling struggled every single time I practiced. Until yesterday, I attended, or rather, I watched a live masterclass, with a german violin professor called Burghard Thölke in which one if my friend attended. His lesson was informative and clear, and one really felt a great difference between his teaching and the teaching in my music school. After the lesson he asked me if I wanted to "audition" or simply play something for him somewhen, and he would maybe take me as his student. I was very overwhelmed by this message, because I would've never thought that a professor would be able to become my teacher. Currently I'm going to the regional music school in my region and it should be the best publich music school nearby. But of course only few people actually take the music path there, most are there for fun. Back home I told my parents about those news and the intention of Mr. Thölke, but their reaction was different than I thought and finally forced me to eventually decide on what I want to do with my life: will my focus be on the violin or school? They said that it would be impossible for me to become a professional level violinist, realistically seen. But I still have some belief that it might be possible, if I wanted it. But I. Don't know if I truly want it and I don't know how to set my goals. I gave myslf a lot of time todsy to think about this and out school stuff and practice away, but I atill haven't come to any conclusion, when I remembered I could ask people with experience! May I ask what your way of figuring out your life was and what you would recommend me to do now?
Of course I remember you! Thank you for getting back! I’m so happy to hear that you’re doing well! We all have our ups and downs and need some sort of support and positivity , so thank you for such encouraging words.
@@ly2867ahhhhh I so get you! It is hard! Look, I am on the other side of the bachelors and masters in violin performance from a very prestigious school. I am 29 years old and still audition for orchestras while I teach a lot of amazing and cute students to be able to pay rent and daily expenses. Looking at my peers that are the same age but in a different career, I often feel discouraged because they already have a house (while I still rent), some of them have kids, and most of them have careers that pay their vacations, which I don’t. They have a schedule where they can separate their work life from their family life, while I can’t. I am constantly thinking about music and how I could’ve been practicing right now. I think that I learned how to be happy with what I got because being grateful and content is a choice. But I am also frustrated that I wasn’t told many things in advance, for example that all these kids that become famous professional have TON of support that I didn’t have as a kid. I used to look up to Hillary Hahn a lot and waiting to be like her, while not realizing that she’s been playing with the orchestra since 13 or even 12. So her and I don’t have the same start, same with many other talented children. I can’t practice my way into some of her success but only because we are on different paths, with different opportunities. I absolutely love violin and it will always be part of my life, but I know that being a soloist with lots of orchestras full time won’t be possible, and frankly won’t bring me satisfaction. I used to always dream of being on stage in a cute dress and travel the world without realizing that all these people make so many sacrifices to have this life style. They spend so much time on the road, and barely see anything outside of airports and hotel rooms. Yes, they are happy, but this won’t make me happy. I realize that I do want to be able to be there for my loved ones when they need me and not unavailable for a whole year because i have signed contracts. At the same time, some of my friends got orchestra jobs right out of school. And they also have a stable life, with a house and paid vacations, so it’s not impossible, it’s just I wish I was told that for some of us it might be way longer or almost impossible to achieve that. I also remember looking down at 9-5 desk jobs, without realizing how much comfort and stability in can bring into life. It also follows the schedule of school systems, so if people end up with kids, they are home in the evenings - not on the stage missing out on family moments over and over again. They are also off on weekends and holidays, while musicians are not since these are the days that we usually book the most. So then the question that I suddenly asked myself was this, if I am an orchestra player in a top orchestra in the world, will I be an absent parent? And that made me very sad. And look, many people make it work, I just don’t know how I will, even though I still work towards auditions and a life in orchestra. I am telling you this only because I want you to know these things in advance, not to figure them out after your undergrad. That is the thing. In high school, we are often told that if we go into a good college, we are set for life and everything will be perfect. But there are challenges after we graduate as well, no matter what profession we pick. Which is totally normal and everyone is going through it! So instead of looking at the college as an end point, I’d recommend to look at the life style that you would love to have in your late twenties and thirties. What makes you excited? What do you think you’d like to avoid? And most importantly, if you do arrive at the top of where you want to be, do you see yourself thrive while having that schedule over and over again for a few years? I can’t tell you what to do because you have to make choices for yourself. But I recommend really researching many things and trusting the people that love you. Especially your parents because they want you to succeed, and they want you to be happy, and most importantly they want you to be able to be independent in the future no matter what career you will pick for yourself.
In Germany we don’t wish or celebrate a birthday in advance because it means bad luck. Therefore I wish you a great day tomorrow and all the best for your future, especially health which is most important. Love your vlogs and hope that more subs make their way to you. You put so much work in the videos and deserve it. Musically greetings, Romy🎶.
@@paganina2330 I met with a friend from Germany yesterday (for lunch) and she said the same thing!!!! She literally was like: I’m not going to sing you happy birthday 😂! I guess in my culture you kind of celebrate when you can. My sister and brother were both visiting and it is rare when all of us are together ♥️ it felt very special to celebrate it, even a little earlier. Thank you for your greetings and for your kind words regarding followers, I’m sure people that love these types of videos will find their way to this channel sooner or later ☁️☁️☁️🥺
1. I don’t have the favorite RU-vidr. I like a mixture. Mostly I watch videos or vlogs about the everyday live. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the life of a professional (musician, medical doctor, pilots…) or a family (Happy Caravan) or a vanlifer. I just like seeing the development in a family (or person) such as Happy Caravan where all the kids pursue music or a medical student becoming an experienced doctor. For me it’s interesting to see how other people live. I must admit it’s often in connection with music, van life or medicine because I have a special interest in these topics, but I‘m open to almost everything. Also I follow lots of music enthusiasts. They don’t need to be prodigies such as Leia Zhu (this is one violinist I like since she‘s 4). The Pillingfamilymusicians is a family with 3 kids studying different instruments. They’re normal kids with problems of everybody and I like the honesty that the life is not always perfect in every direction. And I look up a lot of recipes or directions on RU-vid. Altogether I watch preferably vlogs around 15-20 minutes while I‘m on coffee break. Your videos are really great for relaxing. Very similar (but completely different topic) to Sara Maika, Nikki Delventhal, Olaf the Violinmaker, Twoset violin, Happy Caravan. Oh and I like watching violin competitions, concertos of summer or master courses and the lessons of Mimi Zweig. 2. I‘m really sorry but I can‘t stand the shorts at all. For me they’re always very fast and too much information in a very short period. Too overwhelming, especially for a person with English as a second language. It’s stressful to watch. Hope, this helps a bit. Musically greetings from Romy, Germany
@@paganina2330 ahhhh I absolutely loved reading your comment! Thank you Romy! I also loved by hearing that you find my videos relaxing. That’s the type of content I watch myself so I wanted to create it too. I will definitely check out all the names you mentioned! So excited! It will be a fun evening hehe
Thank for the video. I play classical guitar with a quartet. I really like Forescore with the IPad because I have poor vision due to glaucoma. The backlight helps and I can make notes on scores. I tried using a pedal to turn pages but I never got used to it. Now I just turn pages with my fingers. This works Ok if I memorize the last measure so I turn the page early and play from memory for one measure on the next page. Thanks again for the video. I hope this comment is useful to someone who reads it.
Hi, I’m happy you found this video useful! When I first started using the pedal it was the most annoying thing ever. The coordination seemed so impossible, like I’m already using so much energy to play the notes, I have no time to think about my foot. To get good at it, I downloaded a lot of easy songs and thought of the tapping on the pedal as part of the performance. Got used to it after about four months. I’m still scared of it when I play big concerts and always ask if my stand partner would do it instead of me. They usually say yes. So grateful. Wishing you a lot of beautiful experiences performing with the quartet. Being able to play an instrument is such a gift!
Thank you for recommending the EFEL shoulder rest, will definitely try it! Nail clippers are such a great idea! I grew up using tiny scissors for my nails instead of clippers and will definitely add it to the violin case.
You mean forScore, right? This is exactly what I did. Paid for this app one time and is now on my iPad forever. I also have all the songs I need saved in it, I do not need to access the Cloud every time I look for a song, it just lives in the app.
Thank you for sharing! Will definitely check her channel out! 🫶🏼 ahhhh you’re def a minority for hating the short form, but i’m right there with you hehe
👋🏼 I have two questions for you: 1. Who are your favorite RU-vidrs? What channels do you like to watch on RU-vid? I genuinely want to discover some more pages. Plz let me know. 2. How often do you watch short form content (IG Shorts, TK, RU-vid Shorts) vs long form RU-vid videos? Thank you so much!
Good tutorial ! Can you provide the link to that Amazon iPad stand you have? I have to bring g at heavy heavy Mike stand might stand where I’m playing now. They don’t have any extra microphone stands. The last iPad standby but barely fit the large iPad Pro
Thank you for your positive feedback! This is the iPad stand I have: www.amazon.com/GRIFITI-Universal-Adjustable-Standard-Tablets/dp/B01CZ12EHI/ref=asc_df_B01CZ12EHI/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693340910094&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13296244085118907640&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007894&hvtargid=pla-523587609779&mcid=ad4a96db270d3bc0bfe4170da4c7f36e&gad_source=1&th=1 I hope this helps. Just know that the iPad stand is very light. It is perfect for an iPad but a heavy camera or a microphone won't be safe on it. You can also check out their official website in case you find a better option there. But do notice that sometimes they sell only some parts instead of the whole stand: grifiti.com/search?type=article%2Cpage%2Cproduct&q=ipad*+stand*
I totally forgot about him! Will totally check it out! A Baltimorean once said that the older he gets the more he realizes that Poe wrote about ordinary days in Baltimore 😂 Of course it’s a joke, but I genuinely want to go back to read it.
Thank you! I hope I get it too! It is such a difficult process, but I’m so close to getting it, can’t give up now. Ahhh it will be so exciting when I actually get it. Hopefully very soon.
I’m so happy you found this video useful! Once you open something in forScore it just saves it automatically in the app. On your top left there is a note symbol, if you click on it, it’ll give you the option to click on ‘all scores’ - this is where you’ll find all the music you saved in it (you ever opened in the app). I don’t think there is a way to close a certain piece of music, I simply move on to the next song that i want to play, or leave the app and come back to the same piece I played last. I hope this helps
hi friends, today we go grocery shopping, talk about books and teaching, and end the vlog with a trip to the most beautiful garden. i hope you enjoy it 🪷
This was a great video! My general practice routine has changed a lot over the past few years. My primary instrument is violin but I also actively teach and study guitar, so I switch back and forth and practice both. Most times I spend about a half hour to an hour and a half of practicing a day. Here’s my basic routine: A bit of warm up: usually vibrato practice, scale work, bow work, and a bit of specific left hand technique work on hand frame. Concerto: right now I’m working on the Mendelssohn and the main focus is the cadenza, I’ve been working my way through the first movement with my teacher. She made me a backing track with the harmonies for the cadenza so I can practice the arpeggios along to the harmonic progression which is very effective. Bach: I’m working on the Gigue from the d minor partita, deciding on fingerings and working on consistent hand frame and intonation. Orchestra: I just started playing in a community orchestra a couple of weeks ago, and we have a concert coming up mid May, so I’m working super hard on knowing the music the best I can. After the season is over, I will probably use this time to work on excerpts or maybe sight read common works just to get better at ensemble playing since I love playing in the orchestra. I’m working on deciding which etude to add to this routine as well. As for guitar, that portion of the practice looks really different. I’m working specifically on fundamental internal pulse, so I’m doing body percussion to a metronome with disappearing beats (1 measure on, 1 measure off) to work on rhythm, and then I’m working on my picking technique, and I’m working on improvising melodies between chords. All facets of this routine help me get better at the other things. So my internal pulse practice has made me better at rhythm, which in turn makes me more comfortable during orchestra rehearsal, and is making my concerto better, etc. I use to hate practicing but I’m starting to wish I had more time, but being a full time teacher and teaching privately in addition to that keeps me busy enough I don’t have any more time than what I’m doing right now.
This is so awesome! I absolutely love hearing how many pieces/exercises you’re working on. Thank you for writing. The Bach you mentioned is so beautiful! Same with the cadenza of Mendelssohn. But these are such difficult pieces, it is probably so much fun to get to experience it getting better and better. Congrats on getting to play in an orchestra - it is such a joy to create music with other people! Good luck on your concert!
